For the Summer
by Sarin-sama
Summary: AU. Facing either Juvenile Hall (again) or three months of community service, Gajeel is whisked away by his case worker and dropped into the hands of Makarov Dreyar, who runs a day care for the kids of Magnolia, and Levy McGarden, who has been spending her summers in the small town since she was a kid. Gajeel/Levy Rated T
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! I'm back xD or at least, I'm trying to be. Finally started working on that new story I promised to all my "**Holiday Stayers**" readers**. **Took me a little longer than I'd planned, but it's finally started lol Hope you like it ^w^**

**For the Summer**

~Chapter 1~

A short man with thin gray hair and a face full of wrinkles set in from a lifetime of laughter, sat by a window in the living room of his old house. He was probably in his late 60s – he was old but not so much so that he was stiff and incapable. In fact, he was a rather lively old man – he had to be if you took his summer occupation into account. The man smiled and kept his gaze glued to the nearby window.

The window was open, letting in a soft summer breeze and the sounds of busy bees tending to the overgrown hydrangeas that grew in his unruly front yard. The older man was practically bouncing in his seat from the anticipation.

He was expecting someone.

No, scratch that – as of yesterday he was now expecting a couple someones.

_Now _that_ had been a surprise_, the old man thought to himself.

He'd gotten the sudden phone call yesterday morning while he was in the middle of his chore of cleaning out the upstairs bedroom so that it could once again be fit for human habitation. He remembered thinking that it might have been Mr. Bob calling to see when their favorite part-time worker would be arriving, but that was not the case.

"Makarov? This is Lily," A deep and smooth voice said through the phone.

"Lily! Wow, long time no see, brat! How've you been?" the old man, Makarov said jovially.

The deep voice laughed, "I've been well – and yourself?"

"Well, I've been just peachy. So what's going on? I'm sure this isn't just a social call. No trouble, is there?"

The man on the other end of the line sighed. "Well, it's got to do with trouble I suppose, but I called because I wanted to ask for a favor," Lily started to explain.

Makarov nodded despite being alone in his house, "Give me the details and I'll see if I can help."

"Are you still running that summer program for the kids in Magnolia?"

The old man nodded again, "Sure am – it starts up in on Monday actually. Why?"

"Well, I'm looking for a place to send one of my charges – a seventeen year-old boy. He's been getting into a lot of trouble lately and his most recent court hearing left him with a full three months of community service. I wanted to know if you'd do me the favor of taking him in for the summer and letting him work off his hours at the kids' program."

There was a short silence on the line. Makarov was mulling over all the details. "So why does it have to be me? Isn't all this happening up in Fiore? Why drag him all the way out here just for community service?"

"The thing is, the crowd he's been with lately is a bad one, and I wanted to try to get him away from all of that for a while. I thought a summer out in the boonies could be good for him – he's a little rough around the edges but overall a good kid. He just needs a little guidance."

Makarov sighed into the phone, "Well, I guess it's no big problem for me, especially if I get some free work out of him – but are you sure he'll be alright with the kids? There's quite a handful of them – and not to mention I'll also have Levy over for the summer as well."

"The McGarden's daughter?" Lily asked.

"That's the one. She comes out every summer to help out. Will I be able to trust him around her? God knows the girl doesn't need any more trouble than she's already got."

"There shouldn't be a problem. Like I said – he's a good kid. Just has some bad circumstances."

"Alright then, Lily. You can send him to me. I'll try to knock some sense into the kid."

The rest of the phone call hadn't taken too long – it was just Lily filling him in on some details. Nothing too specific.

So there Makarov was, waiting by the window.

Gajeel Redfox was the boy's name. He and another kid got caught breaking into a car, probably with the intent to steal it but they didn't get past breaking a window before the cops came around the corner and they both booked it. He'd had his hearing two days ago, where Lily had managed to bargain with the judge into giving him a chance to find him a place out of the city to do community service instead of sending him off to Juvenile Hall.

Lily had always been one of those guys with friends in both high and low places. He'd been that way since he himself was a rough-around-the-edges teenager. It didn't surprise Makarov in the least to find that he was good friends with the judge on Gajeel's case.

The old man hoped that Levy would be the first person to come up the little dirt road to his house. He hadn't been able to call her yesterday about having another person staying with them for the summer and hoped to have a little time before Lily and Gajeel showed up to give her a decent rundown of the situation. He knew she wouldn't have much of a problem with sharing the house, but he figured she would appreciate knowing about their house-mate before suddenly meeting him.

A sound suddenly pulled him away from his thoughts – a sound he'd been anticipating. He refocused his gaze on the open window and saw a dark blue, boxy Lincoln crunching up the dirt driveway. His excited heart sank immediately when he noticed that the person behind the wheel was not a blue-haired teenager, but rather a big burly black man with a head of closely shaven fuzzy black hair.

"Lily's here," Makarov muttered to himself. He sighed and pushed himself out of his chair by the window.

* * *

A tall and broad shouldered boy sat in the backseat of the old, clunky Lincoln. A coarse mane of thick black hair outlined his heavily pierced face. As if the shiny metal studs and bars weren't intimidating enough, his brow was drawn down to accent his fearfully scowling lips that looked on the verge of a feral growl. He shifted his arms a bit, causing the metal handcuffs fastened around his wrists to clink softly.

He brought his cuffed hands up and banged the back of his hand on the steel grate that separated the backseat from the front, "Did you really have to keep me cuffed the whole way here?" he asked in a gruff voice that perfectly suited his rough appearance.

A tall black man in his late twenties chuckled to himself. "Sorry Redfox," the laughing driver said over his shoulder, "That scowl of yours was just too hilarious. Just a few more seconds and you'll be free."

"You're a fuckin' bastard, Lily," the cuffed boy muttered darkly as the Lincoln slowly came to a stop outside a battered old house. "And I don't think this counts as free," he said as he eyed the house.

"I'm your social worker – it's my job to be a bastard," Lily sighed with a smile audible in his voice. "And while I know you're not too happy to be here, this is a good place. Mr. Dreyar here is one of the best guys I know. He helped me out a lot back in the days when I was the kid in handcuffs."

The boy gave a snort of disbelief – he couldn't imagine the Lily who'd been his case worker for the past couple years in the back of a police car, teenager or no.

Lily opened his door and got out of the car. "Alright, Gajeel – let's get you out of those cuffs."

"Finally," Gajeel muttered. He hated the feel of the foreign metal around his wrists – it made him feel a little claustrophobic. While it was obviously the whole purpose of hand-cuffs to keep their subjects trapped and stuck, Gajeel still hated the feeling. He didn't like being forced to stay still.

Lily opened his door for him and quickly pushed a little key into the cuffs. With those gone, Gajeel was free to use his arms again and immediately pulled himself out of the back of Lily's stuffy car – the long drive out to Magnolia from Fiore had been unbearably hot, considering the only air-conditioning the old car had was rolled down windows.

Lily had popped open the trunk for him so Gajeel went around back to gather up his things. He heard Lily and an older voice talking, but wasn't all that interested in meeting who would become his new warden. He'd probably end up being some boring old man who would make him do a whole summer of manual labor – he hadn't been told yet what he was actually going to be doing for his community service, but Lily told him it would be absolutely grueling.

Lily was indeed a bastard – but Gajeel knew him enough to know that he probably wasn't lying. Gajeel swore under his breath as he pulled one of the straps of his backpack over his shoulder. "I'm stuck out here in the middle of goddamn nowhere," he said darkly. His mind came up with all sorts of terrible chores and jobs the old man would assign him. The most plausible to Gajeel was the idea of picking up trash along the roadsides – probably the whole town since it wasn't that large to begin with.

And that was another thing – this town was painfully small. What in the world was there to do here? Gajeel saw nothing all that interesting besides a run-down looking drive-in theater and all of one fast food joint on their way through town to this dump. What little free time he was probably going to get was going to be wasted doing absolutely nothing. His whole summer was going to be ruined just because of that idiot Byard who got spooked because the cops came around the corner at the exact wrong time. If the guy would have just played it cool, Gajeel wouldn't be in this horrible place and Jose, the leader of Phantom Lord, wouldn't be so pissed at him.

Gajeel slammed the trunk of the Lincoln closed with a little more force than necessary and slowly made his way towards Lily and this Dreyar character.

The old man was short – like really short. Especially when he stood next to Lily, who was excessively tall. He was smirking at Gajeel as he approached, eyes narrowed in observation. Gajeel's first impression wasn't as bad as his imagination had led him to believe – the old man didn't seem all that angry or mean, or even boring like most old people were, but that smirk on his face was a little discomforting.

"Hmm – so you're Gajeel then, huh?" The old man asked.

Gajeel gave a short grunt as affirmation.

"Hmm," the old man hummed again. He started walking around Gajeel as if he were some item in a store he was thinking about buying. "Well, you've got quite the angry mug there, but that could actually come in handy. The damn kids are a rambunctious bunch, but you'll probably be able to scare them into submission," Dreyar laughed sinisterly to himself.

Gajeel's eyes widened a bit. "Kids?" he asked, thinking that he must have been hearing things.

"Ho ho – Lily didn't tell you what you'd be doing all summer I take it," The old man stated looking from Gajeel up to Lily.

Lily shook his head with an evil smirk of his own, "Thought it'd be a nice surprise for him once he got here."

"Well kid – I hope you like young'uns because you'll be keeping track of them all summer," Dreyar laughed, "I run something I call a Summer Day-Camp for the kids in town – Camp Fairy Tail. Gives them all a place to play since school's out for the summer and their parents are gone all day at work."

Kids…All summer long, he'd be dealing with children…

He swore internally. _This was just great. Not only am I being kept with some old guy in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do, I'm also gonna be babysitting god-knows how many bratty kids. Perfect._

The old man laughed, "They're a rough bunch but I'm sure you'll deal with them just fine. And it's not like you'll be alone. There'll be four of us counselors in total this year – five if my grandson decides to come home later on this summer."

"Ah – Laxus? How's he been?" Lily asked.

Dreyar started back towards the house as he talked, urging Lily and Gajeel to follow. The old man blathered on about his grandson in college, but Gajeel stopped listening. He was still trying to wrap his head around the whole "Day Care" thing. He just couldn't imagine himself – he, Gajeel, with the nineteen different piercings on his face alone and a tattoo on his shoulder – being surrounded by children every day for the next three months.

And these other counselors were probably more old people, or some parents of the kids who'll end up looking down on him the whole summer. He can already imagine the poisonous looks and the whispers. It's not that Gajeel particularly cares what others think of him, but it'll get really old, really fast if he has to deal with those kinds of things every day. And if he's supposed to keep his temper under all that, there's no way in hell.

And Gajeel knew already that running away – running back to Fiore – wasn't an option. He'd tried running a couple times before – but every time, Lily managed to track him down one way or another. So Gajeel was stuck here with no way out.

The inside of the old house was more well-kept than the outside. The wood floors which were a nice deep mahogany made gentle creaking sounds every couple of steps, and the walls of the living room-slash-dining room (which were separated by the narrow entrance area) were a crisp blue color. Most of the furniture looked and smelled like old man, but there was a shiny new flatscreen hanging on the wall above a small, gray-stone fireplace and a whole bookshelf stocked with DVD's and old VHS tapes. Gajeel recognized quite a few of the movie titles so there was at least something interesting he could do with his free time.

On the other side of the front door was the dining area with a wooden table that matched the floors, and six surrounding chairs – also matching the wood floors. There were picture frames scattered about the blue walls, but aside from those the walls were plain. Through an archway at the end of the dining area was the kitchen, and that's where Dreyar and Lily had disappeared. They were still talking amongst themselves – Dreyar only spared a moment to call back at Gajeel to make himself "at home".

About two yards directly across from the front door was a staircase made from the same dark wood as the floors, that led up to the second story. Gajeel had noted outside that the house had two floors – three if you counted what was probably an attic. The little hallway between the stairs and the living room area led to another open archway on the left that seemed to go back to the kitchen, and three other doors. Two were closed but one was opened halfway. It looked like a plain old bathroom so he didn't give it much notice.

Gajeel sighed and set his backpack down beside a nearby Lazyboy recliner which sat beside an open window. The scowling boy plopped himself down in the plumply cushioned chair and leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling.

"This is going to be a long summer," he predicted in a mutter to himself.

* * *

Sunlight glinted off the hood of a white Mercury as it sped down an empty highway. The late morning traffic out to Magnolia from the large city of Fiore was nonexistent except for the little white car. No one usually liked coming out to Magnolia because it was so out of the way and had no appeal to the few travelers who ended up there, but the driver of the little Mercury was humming happily to herself while she drove over the bumps and pot-holes through the middle of nowhere.

Levy was a short little thing with a head of unusually colored blue hair, kept out of her face with an orange bandana she was using as a headband. Red rimmed glasses sat on the edge of her nose and through them, round brown eyes were smiling. She had just turned seventeen a month ago and would be a senior in high school once it started in the fall. She was one of a small percentage of kids who actually liked going to school, but still, the summers were her favorite part of the year.

It gave her the chance to escape.

Her smile slackened a bit at the thought and tucked some of her wild blue hair behind her ear. Usually her hair was very manageable but at the moment she had both of her back windows down. Not because it was necessarily hot, though the morning was quite comfortably warm, but because one of the windows had been broken. If she didn't roll the other one down, the wind pressure while she drove made an annoyingly loud sound that hurt her ears.

She wondered vaguely if the mechanic in Magnolia would be able to give her a cheap window installment because she didn't like the idea of duct-taping cardboard or some other equally ghetto material over the gaping hole in her car. It wasn't a very nice car and the paint was peeling off in places to reveal large rust patches, but she didn't want to humiliate it further with tacky cardboard or clear, plastic sheeting.

She gave the steering wheel an affectionate pat, "I'll get you fixed up soon, Silver."

Yes, her car's name was Silver even though it was white. She named it after the Lone Ranger's horse because it was her trusty white stallion...Levy thought it was slightly outrageous when people didn't get the reference. _Psh, young people these days_, she thought to herself, as if she wasn't a part of the aforementioned group.

Finally as she reached the top of a small incline in the road, she could see the first signs of Magnolia appearing before her. A simple white road-sign on the side of the highway read:

Magnolia

Population 893

Levy slowed her speed as she crossed into the small town's boundary, and a little under a mile later she was suddenly halfway through Magnolia's main street. She passed all the usual shops and restaurants, as well as the Onibus Theater, the large screen of which cast a shadow over a good portion of the street. She wondered vaguely if Rabian was still in charge of it, knowing that he'd had some financial troubles the previous few years.

She drove through the dusty little town. It wasn't much to look at but to Levy it was a special place. Almost all of her best memories were made in this small town.

She turned down onto Strawberry Street, past the only fast food joint in town which was run by a friend of Makarov's, and straight forward until she started to leave all signs of the town behind.

After another five minutes or so the road started its ever-so-familiar incline and she knew that at the top of the hill was Makarov's house. She was grinning to herself now, a feeling of excitement and expectation building up inside of her.

Finally she reached the top of the hill and the road leveled out in front of her. There the old man's farm house stood like it always had, deceptively run down and old. From the outside you'd think the place was a dump – dried grass and dirt as far as the eye could see, a broken down lawnmower accumulating rust in the front yard, chipping white and green paint on the exterior walls and on the eves, shingles hanging loosely in place on the roof – but once you got inside, things were a lot nicer and more modern too.

But to Levy's surprise, Makarov's little red pick-me-up wasn't the only vehicle in the dirt patch in front of the house. A boxy black car was parked there.

She pulled up to the right of the foreign car and turned off Silver's engine. She pushed open her door with all of her strength, because it wouldn't open otherwise, and got out of the car. After giving the black car a curious once-over, she pulled her duffel bag and backpack through the perpetually open backseat window, leaving the two boxes of her favorite books in the backseat for later – she had a handful of novels in her bags as well so there wasn't an immediate need for them.

Under the weight of the two bags, she shuffled up the porch steps and gave the screen door a quick knock before going right in.

"Master? Are you home?" she called out into the house as she quickly dropped her duffle bag. She looked towards the dining area but didn't see the old man. "I'm here…" she froze for a second as she noticed an unfamiliar body sitting in the LazyBoy by the window. He was a rather angry looking guy, a dark mane of black hair framing a heavily pierced and scowling face. He shot a glance at her, but after the initial shock of his presence wore off, Levy countered it with a light and slightly curious smile.

"Levy~!" an old, familiar voice called out.

She turned towards the dining room and grinned as Makarov's short figure appeared in the archway that connected the dining area to the kitchen. He was beaming at the girl, something suspiciously like a beer in his hand. "You're late!"

She gave her duffel bag a little shove with her foot to make sure it wasn't obstructing the walkway and started towards the old man, "Well, I'm here now at least – and isn't it a little too early in the morning for beer?"

"I'm a crotchety old man – let me enjoy my later years the way I want to," he replied with a quick tip of the brown bottle to his lips, "Besides, I'm celebrating. It's not every day I get to catch up with one of my kids from the good 'ole days."

At that, another figure emerged from the kitchen – this one substantially taller than Makarov. "Technically I wasn't ever one of your 'kids', Makarov," the tall man replied. He turned his gaze from the old man to Levy. "Hello Levy. You finally got taller I see," he chuckled.

"Lilly," Levy's stared in shock for a moment before finally letting a small smile fade into place, "Not by much but yeah, I'm a little taller now. A decade does that to a kid. So what brings you out here?"

"Business, unfortunately. My angry friend, Gajeel, over there is going to be helping with the summer program and Makarov is doing me the favor of letting him stay here for the next couple of months," Lily informed.

"I was going to tell you about the new arrangements yesterday," Makarov added, "But I couldn't get a hold of you."

"Ah – sorry about that. My phone – err – kinda got stolen again…along with my car stereo and some laundry that I had in my car at the time." She smiled sheepishly at the old man.

Makarov sighed and moved towards the door. He picked up her duffel bag and hung it from his shoulder, "Well lets get you settled in first before we figure out how to deal with your bad luck."

Levy laughed and pulled her backpack back on, "They didn't take any of my books at least – my whole backseat is buried in them but not a single book was taken."

The old man snorted, "Thieves are not usually the scholarly type, so that's not too unexpected."

"I've probably got over $200 in books back there, which is more than they probably could have gotten for my crappy pay-as-you-go cell phone or my dirty clothes," Levy shook her head as she followed the old man up the stairs.

Up on the second story of the house, there were three small bedrooms, a bathroom, and a small open space with a small loveseat and a sparsely used bookcase. Makarov nodded towards the bookcase, "I've finally wizened up – now you've got a place for all your books."

Levy gave a small laugh, "Thanks – it'll be nice to see them on a proper bookshelf for once."

The first door on the left was the room Levy usually stayed in when she came for the summers. Makarov led the way inside and set her duffel bag down by the door. It was a relatively small room. There was a bunk-bed pushed up alongside the wall to the left of the door, a desk and chair beneath the large window on the far wall, and a closet with sliding doors that made up the entire right wall. Both of the sliding closet doors had large mirrors on their surfaces, which made the room feel large even though it wasn't.

"I cleaned it up as best I could yesterday – it's crazy the amount of dust that gets in this house." Makarov sighed and sat down on the bottom bed which had clean blue sheets and a quilt laid out on it. "So are you really alright with that boy Gajeel staying here? Because if it makes you uncomfortable at all, I can ask Bob to take him in…" Makarov explained.

Levy sat down beside him and leaned against the old man, "It's completely fine – remember the summer I came and you had like seven other foster kids living here? That was one of my favorite summers," Levy smiled.

Makarov sighed again but returned the girl's smile, "That was definitely one hectic summer, but it was a good one." Makarov took in a deep breath and got to his feet, "Alright! We've got a long summer ahead of us – lets make it a good one!"

"Sounds good to me, Master," Levy laughed.

"Well, you get to unpacking – I've got a little more talking to do with Lily and the boy. If you need me, you know where to find me."

Levy nodded, "Got it. It won't take me too long to get my stuff put away, as long as I keep my books closed."

Makarov shook his head and stood in the doorway, "Try to hold off on the reading until after you've unpacked." He gave her a wink and left her to get settled.

Levy fell back onto her bed and let her eyes close for a moment. This was her place – this town, this house – this was where she belonged. While Fiore was where she lived most of the time, Magnolia was where she felt at home.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you liked it! I'm excited to finally be posting this after having it rattle around in my brain for so long. Anywho ~ thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

Hey all~! Here's Chapter 2! Sorry if it feels a little slow, but we're still in the intro-phase - getting to know everyone, everything, and everywhere.

Also, just reiterating that the Rating is T, mostly because it's Gajeel and his vocabulary consists of a lot of F-bombs and various other curses :p

~Enjoy~

**Chapter 2:**

Makarov descended the stairs again and found Lily sitting on one of the grey love seats in the living room fiddling with his phone and Gajeel still planted in the recliner looking absolutely miserable. "Alright boy, let's get back to business," he said as he approached them.

When the boy's dark eyes landed on him, Makarov continued, "I'll give you the spiel I give to all of my foster kids. First of all, this became your home the moment you stepped through the doors and will be your home until you have to leave here. As this is my home too, that makes us sort of a makeshift family. That means if you need anything, or want anything, you can ask me for it – I'll probably get it for you unless it's something stupid or needlessly expensive. Also means, if you screw up I'm obligated to forgive you the first couple times, and vise-versa. In this family, there are only a few absolute rules. One – no fighting in the house. You have a problem with someone or something, you can bitch and moan and throw a few punches if you'd like, but the issue stays outside. I don't like all that negativity and tension in here – it stinks up the place."

Makarov caught Lily smirking. The old man pointed to the amused state worker, "This guy could never seem to remember that rule – Lily, tell him what happened when ever I caught you and Ivan fighting."

The short, elder man caught a wistful look shadow Lily's face before being replaced by an amused smile, "You usually resorted to violence yourself, if I remember correctly – though I do recall having to stand out on the porch in the middle of a snow storm to 'cool' my temper."

Makarov grinned, "I thought that was a pretty clever one, actually – anywho, point is, no fighting when you're under this roof."

"Two," he continued, "You are old enough to figure out what's right and wrong for yourself. I don't care what you do in your free time or what bad habits you have – cigarettes, drinking – I don't care as long as you're not flaunting it in front of me. But what I will not abide, is drugs of any kind. You can argue all you like that marijuana isn't bad for you or whatever, but I don't care. I don't tolerate anything stronger than aspirin in my house unless you have a legitimate prescription. I'm not going to go riffling through your things, but I know what most of that crap smells like, and if there's any of it on you, you'll have some explaining to do."

Makarov took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Alright. Three – this is the last rule. Give me a heads up if you have plans. I don't need a full-on itinerary, but I like to know a vague idea of where you'll be and how late you'll be out. I'm pretty good about making dinner most nights, but if you're planning to go out to eat or go to someone else's house, tell me so I don't waste time cooking if I don't have to. There are other reasons, but that's really my main concern. I hate cooking a full on meal and then finding out everyone already ate.

"So that's about it. Any questions?" Makarov finally finished.

Gajeel just shook his head, his scowl (which Makarov had assumed had become a permanent feature of his face) hadn't loosened any, but neither did it intensify. That was a plus at least, the old man thought to himself.

* * *

Although his face didn't show it, Gajeel was at least a little surprised. He'd been in a number of foster homes over the years, but none of them had ever been this…well, relaxed.

Only three rules, and none of them really all that severe. No fighting in the house (who was he gonna fight with anyways, the old man? The shrimpy girl?). No drugs (but that wasn't much of a problem for him seeing as how the thought of not being in control of his body hadn't ever appealed to him). And no running off without telling him ahead of time (and honestly, it would be pretty easy to lie about where he was going if need be). All in all, pretty easy to deal with.

Unlike some of the other places he's lived, this one was beginning to seem tolerable at the least – though he couldn't say much yet about working at the day care.

The house phone started ringing and the short old man ran off to answer it. Gajeel was alone with Lily.

"So, he's not too scary, right?" Lily smirked.

Gajeel just rolled his eyes.

"You'll like it here – even if the community service work is pretty tiring. Dreyar is a good guy – and Levy is a nice girl, so you'll have someone to hang out with who isn't an old man or a bunch of kids at least."

"Yeah," Gajeel started with a snort of laughter, "I'm sure this shithole in the middle of nowhere is a paradise."

Lily didn't respond to his sarcasm except to smile a little wider, "Well I've got to get going now – you're not my only lost cause in need of guidance. I'll be back in two weeks to check up on you." The tall social services worker stood up and headed into the kitchen, where the old man had disappeared to when running to answer the phone. Gajeel heard them exchange a quick goodbye, the old man returning to his phone call afterwards.

When Lily came back out again, Gajeel stood up from the lazy boy recliner, and stood a bit sourly at the door. As Lily passed by him to the front door, he gave Gajeel a soft, friendly punch to the shoulder, "If you need me, you have my numbers – see you in two weeks, Redfox."

The scowling boy grunted in response and watched the man leave. Gajeel watched from the screen door until the boxy Lincoln disappeared down the road. He had mixed feelings about his predicament. He was relieved to find out that this place didn't seem as bad as he'd initially thought it would be, and would choose here over juvenile hall in a heartbeat – but still, he hated being here instead of back in Fiore where he'd at least be able to see people he knew. He wouldn't call the guys of Phantom Lord his friends – Gajeel didn't do the whole "friends" thing – but they were interesting at least. And José was probably the best fighter he'd ever seen – better than himself even, which was saying something considering Gajeel rarely recognized someone else's strength.

José had beaten him up pretty badly back when the gang was still making a name for itself. It was the first and only time Gajeel had ever lost a fight.

The sound of light steps coming down the stairs brought his attention back to his surroundings. Gajeel turned to see the small blue-haired girl coming back down the stairs. She was probably around his age, but being so tiny made her look younger, and the glasses made her look like a nerd – well, the glasses and all of her earlier talk of books anyways.

As she reached the first floor, she looked around the room, but after only finding him there she kept her gaze on Gajeel.

"Did Lily leave?" she asked.

Gajeel answered with a curt nod, "Just left."

She seemed to frown at his answer, "Hmm, I wanted to ask him something – I guess I'll just have to wait then." She sighed and then leaned against the back of the love seat. She sent a small smile in Gajeel's direction. "I'm Levy, by the way."

"Gajeel," he replied.

She nodded and pointed up the stairs, "The other guest room is the second door on the left – that's probably where Makarov was planning on setting you up. Want me to show you?"

He shrugged, and grabbed his backpack from the floor.

The girl must have taken this to mean "sure" because she started back up the stairs again, leading the way. Gajeel followed. Lily had said she was a "nice girl" but where he came from, the nice girls were the boring, goodie-goodies. Definitely not the type he'd normally associate with, or the type that would want anything to do with him.

But it seemed they were both going to be staying here for the whole summer. _I'll have to tolerate her, I guess. Goddamnit, Lily, leaving me here…_

She lead him past a door on the left (which was left open to reveal a bunch of her things scattered about the small room), and a door on the right (that one was closed).

"This one is yours," she said as she opened up the second door along the left side of the hallway. She stepped aside to let me pass into it and then continued, "The door right here at the end of the hallway is the bathroom, and I'm right next door if you need me."

Then she just walked right back downstairs.

_Well, at least she's not all chatty_, he thought to himself. He looked around at his new digs. A bunk bed, a desk, and a tall dresser with five drawers. Simple and empty, but the room was small so that was probably a good thing. He threw his large grey backpack onto the bottom bunk, which had been made neatly until the bag bounced onto it. Gajeel sank down onto the bed beside it. The air was dusty and stuffy, but everything had been cleaned off. The top bunk was mattress-less, making it possible to look up through the black metal bars that served as the base for the top bunk to the ceiling above it.

He didn't really feel like unpacking his things – it's not like he had a lot anyways. A few changes of clothes made up the bulk of his belongings. He had a few other things as well, but he didn't need them out or anything. If he had his phone he would have dug that out at least, but Lily had confiscated that before the boring ride out to this crappy town – he didn't want Gajeel having any contact with Phantom Lord, José in particular. Gajeel was pretty sure Lily didn't have the right to do that, but when Gajeel had tried to fight him on the matter, the bastard slapped some handcuffs on him and said "too bad".

Gajeel absently thumbed a stud he had sticking out from his nostril and mentally cursed Lily some more.

* * *

When Levy came back down the stairs, she could still hear Master talking on the phone. From the sounds of it, he was talking to Mr. Bob and something was up, but she didn't put too much effort into snooping.

Instead she decided she'd relax a bit on the couch. She could have turned on the TV if she wanted, but she didn't. She just wanted to sit down and soak in the familiar cozy feelings that this house had always given her. She curled up against the armrest of one of the grey loveseats, her legs pulled up and close to her body while her arms folded across her chest. The plush couch nearly absorbed her small body and she couldn't help the satisfied smile that came to her lips.

She closed her eyes and listened. Makarov's voice floated to her from the kitchen, a mix between smirky and serious at the moment. The light breeze sailed through the screen door, carrying sounds of the large oak tree on the side of the house rustling and fidgeting lazily about. Floorboards creaked and murmured, probably because Gajeel was moving around upstairs.

Her eyes fluttered open and she stared blankly at the ceiling.

Gajeel was interesting, she decided. He had her curiosity peaked, though, that wasn't saying much because Levy was just naturally curious. It was a part of her ravenous desire to learn. She'd often found that reading was the best way to learn new things – whether they were fantasy novels, school books, guides, manuals, or essays, there was always something there that she could learn, something more that she could know.

But Gajeel was interesting, and she was oddly excited to learn about him. It wasn't the _why_ that intrigued her – she wasn't all that interested in why he'd wound up here, because she could guess the gist of it, what with Lily being a domestic case worker – but rather it was the _who_ that made her wonder. From his outward appearance she gathered that he rather liked looking unfriendly – the number of piercings on his face alone did a wonderful job of putting off this aura of _leave me alone_ that was only amplified by his angry visage and tough demeanor – but she was very curious to see how that matched up with the rest of him.

People were very interesting to Levy. Sometimes they were as readable as books, and other times there were twists to them that even the most well-read novelist couldn't predict. And when she met someone new, it was always as exciting to her as picking up a new book.

She laughed silently at herself – if Makarov could hear her thoughts he'd probably say something along the lines of "Only you would compare people to books." Flesh and blood to paper and ink.

_Speaking of Makarov_, Levy thought to herself as she heard quick and harder footsteps coming out of the kitchen. She realized the older man had stopped talking as she turned her head to look at the dining area across the entryway from where she sat.

As he emerged from the kitchen he caught her eye and sighed through his lightly smirked lips. "Bob needs help at the school – the principal decided last minute to change up the rooms we could use this year. Gotta set everything up again." He ran a hand across his balding head and came to lean against the staircase railing.

"Need help?" Levy asked.

He shook his head, "Naw, Bob and I got it. Can you hold down the fort?"

"Well, I was planning on taking my car into that little repair shop," Levy started.

"What's wrong with it now?" Makarov asked.

Levy smiled sheepishly, "Remember the stolen phone and car stereo? Well, they broke one of the backseat windows to get to those."

Makarov just chuckled, "That's some luck you've got. Alright, sounds good. Tell that crazy mechanic Daphne that I'll cover the cost of it."

"Ah, no you don't have to pay for it," Levy said quickly, "I've got money."

"I know you do – but that's money you earned. You're supposed to save it up for school or spend it on fun stuff. Bills for broken windows is neither of those things." Makarov crossed his arms dramatically over his chest.

Levy knew he was going to be stubborn about it but tried to fight it anyways, "Master, its my money to spend – and if I want to spend it fixing up my car…"

The old man cut her off, "Oh, don't _Master_ me. Don't be so stubborn, Levy. I'm going to pay for it."

"Let me at least pay part of it then."

"Nope. Not even fifty cents," he replied immediately.

She narrowed her eyes at the man, but she recognized her defeat. "Fine," she consented with a huff.

Makarov laughed in triumph, "Levy, you need to learn to let people treat you."

Levy just grumbled to herself.

She didn't like having people pay for her things, or doing favors for her. It felt too much like pity. It felt too much like being a burden. She'd had enough of that to last her a lifetime and then some.

Levy heard heavy footfalls coming down the stairs and glanced over to see Gajeel appearing one step at a time.

Makarov looked towards the stairwell and then back at Levy, meeting her eyes with a smile. "Alright – I'll be back around five-thirtyish to make dinner. Don't let the house burn down, you two." With that he spun on his heels and left out the front door, pulling his keys out of his pants pocket as he disappeared.

Levy shook his head at him even though he'd gone from her line of sight. She sighed and looked over at the stairs again. Gajeel had come to a stop on the last step and leaned against the railing, scowling out at nothing in particular.

"Want to come to town with me?" Levy asked. "Need to see a mechanic about a window, and I figured I could show you around a bit." She wasn't sure if he'd want to go or not, but she thought she'd ask anyways.

He seemed to think about it for a second before letting out a short breath. "Alright – beats doing nothing."

Levy smiled. "Okay – I just need to grab my purse and then we can go."

Gajeel nodded and stepped off of the stairs to go and stand by the door. Levy unfolded herself from the couch and ran quickly upstairs to grab her bag. It was more of a satchel than a purse, blue floral fabric with a brown leather strap and front pocket. It was a little worn and weathered and she'd had to sew the strap back into place at least twice, but the bag was something she'd bought at a thrift store years back and had served her well since. She slung it over her shoulder and rummaged through it for her red-rimmed glasses as she once again descended the stairs.

She soon slipped past Gajeel out the screen door, leading him out to her little Mercury. She didn't bother locking the front door of the house, since there was virtually no crime in the little town – as far as Levy knew, the worst that happened was public intoxication or disturbances. Nothing major.

The blunette jerked open the driver's side door, and once she sat down, she leaned across to unlock the passenger door by hand so that Gajeel could get in.

Levy slammed her door close to make sure that it latched completely and then put the key in the ignition and brought her car to life. It spluttered a few times before completely reviving.

"Does it always shake like this?" Gajeel asked warily.

Levy pursed her lips, "Only occasionally. I've read the car's manual numerous times, but can never figure out what's wrong with it. It usually stops once you drive it around for a bit."

"Could be your shocks need replacing, or one of the hoses have come loose," Gajeel thought aloud.

Levy's eyes lit up as she put the car into reverse and started backing out of the dirt driveway, "Do you know much about cars?"

He gave her a sideways glance and answered with his gruff voice, "I guess. Know enough to fix them most of the time."

"Maybe you could look at my car sometime this summer – show me how things work and all. I've read a lot about cars and mechanics, but I think hands-on learning would be more effective." She smiled as she drove down the road towards town. _It would be great if he could show me how to do more than change the oil or switch out the tires on Silver – would save me money so long as nothing major went wrong with the poor vehicle._

Gajeel grunted in response, not really indicating whether it was a positive or negative answer – so Levy took it to mean "Sure, why not". Probably wishful thinking on her part, but hey, she was a positive person.

They rode in mostly silence (the _mostly_ being the sound caused by the wind as they drove at 35 MPH with both the back windows down) and reached the town in a few minutes.

Levy took a quick spin down Main Street to give Gajeel a little tour.

"The drive-in is basically the main attraction here – it's cheap and you get to see two movies at a time. There are a couple of restaurants, but the only fast-food joint is 8-Island, the place we passed earlier. Most everything else is family businesses and residential areas," Levy explained as she drove.

Gajeel shook his head, "So basically, there's nothing to do here."

Levy gave a light laugh, "Pretty much – but it doesn't get too boring. There's always something going on – there's a farmers market every other Wednesday, a carnival that comes through sometime in July, the fireworks show for Independence Day." Levy thought for a minute, ticking through all the summertime attractions that Magnolia usually had to offer. "I'm sure I'm missing a few things, but you get the point."

"Sure," the studded boy grunted.

Levy drove past Strawberry, the street that eventually led out to Master's house, and kept driving until she saw Magnolia Auto Repair. She pulled into the alleyway beside it and onto the lot. It was a tall, grungy building with two wide, floor-to-ceiling doors opened up to reveal an empty garage. There was a little office sticking out from the chunk of wall between the two gaping garage doors. As it consisted of mostly windows, Levy could see the back of the mechanic's head as she sat inside looking at a computer screen.

She knew Daphne, but not as well as some of the other townies. Mostly she just knew the woman's reputation for being a little "out there" as Makarov liked to phrase it.

Levy parked next to the little office.

The mechanic must have noticed her pulling into the lot because she was quickly out of her boxy office and standing at the driver's side window. Levy rolled her window down and smiled up at the woman. She was tall – at least when compared to Levy – with black, shoulder length hair that framed her bespectacled face. She was wearing a green tank top and jean cut-off shorts, both slightly covered by a long white coat, that looked like it belonged to a scientist rather than a car mechanic.

"Ah," the woman breathed, "I know you – the blue-haired girl that stays with Dreyar. Whats-it, Lila, Lena?"

"Levy," the blunette introduced.

"Yeah, yeah – Levy. Had the _L_ right at least," the woman nodded to herself. She patted the top of the white Mercury and bent down to peer into the car. "Who's the angry dude? Dreyar keepin' fosters again?"

Levy could almost feel the scowl radiating off of Gajeel's face. Her smile was starting to grow falser by the minute, "He's a friend. Going to be working at the day care this summer."

"Huh – well, whatcha need from me, Levy?"

"Wanted to see about getting my back window replaced," Levy pointed over her shoulder to the backseat window.

The woman stepped sideways to appraise the gaping hole where a window should be. She opened up the door behind Levy and started fiddling with the handle that manually rolled up the window. "What happened to it?" She asked.

"I live in a bad neighborhood," Levy replied lightly.

"Hmmm," the mechanic woman hummed. "Well, I can take down the info and all that today, but it'll be a few days before they ship me out the right sized piece of glass. Once I get it though, it shouldn't take more'n twenty minutes to install."

"That sounds great – how much do you think it'll end up costing?" Levy asked.

"About one hundred – maybe more depending on the cost of getting the new piece shipped out. Won't be more than two hundred dollars though." Daphne nodded to herself.

After giving the mechanic the make and model of the car, Levy was ready to be off again.

"Since you're stayin' with Dreyar, I'll call the house whenever I get the glass in. I've got the number written down somewhere."

Levy nodded, "Alright – thanks Daphne."

The black-haired woman tipped her white cowboy hat in response as Levy turned her car back on again. She drove off the lot with a sigh. She thought it was going to be cheaper than that.

She gazed out at the street, waiting for a minivan to pass her before pulling out into the street. Makarov probably wouldn't be home for a while – maybe there was another detour she could take to kill a little more time before dinner.

As the minivan passed her, she got an idea.

Levy smiled again and turned to Gajeel. "Mind if we make another quick stop?"

* * *

By quick stop, Gajeel thought she meant like at a store or to go visit someone.

He hadn't expected the girl to go to a park.

He peered out the window as the engine cut off in the middle of a gravel parking lot that seemed to wrap around a small sand-pit playground. The place was pretty basic – a pair of old swings, a tall metal slide that gave of heat waves in the afternoon sun, some monkey bars, and a small, rusty marry-go-round – and it was crawling with children. The snot rags were everywhere. There wasn't enough room on the playground for all of them so the others had taken to the empty field just beyond it with footballs, Frisbees, and plastic whiffle bats. There were parents scattered here and there along the edges of the playground on benches and blankets, but not too many.

He turned back to Levy to see her grinning at him – he could have sworn it had some deviousness to it. "Don't worry – I won't be here long. Just wanted to see some of the campers before tomorrow." With that she got out, leaving him to either follow or stay in the car.

He grumbled to himself and eventually got out as well. Why in the hell would she want to see the brats now if she was going to see them tomorrow?

He walked around to the front of the car and leaned against the rust-spotted hood of it. He was going to have all summer to deal with kids – he'd hold off a bit longer before joining that herd of dirty, sticky runts. Gajeel just watched at Levy walked out onto the edge of the sandbox. She stood there for a minute before catching a little silver-haired girl's attention and waving.

That had been a catalyst. The moment that one little girl shouted "Levy!" at the top of her lungs, a mass movement spread through the entire playground. Suddenly children were running from all directions – not all but most, either because they actually knew Levy, or because they saw all the other kids running and wanted to join in too.

The horde basically tackled her. The blue-haired girl fell flat on her back in seconds under the throngs of little arms and shouts. It startled him enough to momentarily wonder if she was okay. She sat up seconds later with probably the biggest smile he'd seen on her face the entire day, hugging as many of the brats as she could wrap her arms around.

Eventually the whole crowd got back to their feet, some of the kids going back to the playground while a good handful still hung around the kid. Gajeel had never been good at guessing ages, especially with kids, but as far as sizes went, they were all varying degrees of short. They were all talking, too far away for Gajeel to actually hear what about, and then Levy suddenly turned and pointed over at him.

The little group that had stayed with her after the mass-tackling all started to look towards him as well, one of the smaller girls peering out at him from behind Levy's leg. A scrawny pink-haired boy started waving spastically at him before letting his hands settle on his hips and turning back to Levy.

Gajeel just shook his head and continued to look around. Some of the parents in the area had sent waves in Levy's direction while others didn't seem to notice her at all. No one seemed to be paying him much notice and that was just fine by him – made staring at a park full of kids a little less awkward for him.

The girl was a little more interesting than he thought she'd be, and that had surprised him a little. He'd been his normal quiet and angry self around her all day, but she didn't seem to be bothered by it in the slightest. She just sort of smiled a lot, even when he didn't reply to something she'd said. He tried to think of the last girl that was able to tolerate him, but could only think of this chick he'd been with for a while who turned out to be pretty fucking insane. Crazies seemed to be drawn to him…or maybe he was the one attracted to crazy people, if there was even difference between the two.

Gajeel didn't have to wait much longer before Levy gave a few more hugs and waves goodbye. She started back towards him and the car, but once about halfway back she spun and called out, "See you tomorrow guys!" through her cupped hands.

There was a resounding mish-mash of agreeing voices bouncing off of the playground equipment to which Levy grinned again and waved before turning around.

"Alright," she started as she opened up the driver-side door, "We can head back now."

Gajeel shook his head at her and got back into the crappy car. "Tomorrow is going to be fucking terrible," he muttered to himself.

Levy smirked as she pushed the red-framed glasses up on her nose a bit. "The kids are going to eat you alive," she agreed.

* * *

A/N: next chapter will be coming out soon (I hope). I'm aiming for no longer than a week between chapters, so we'll see how long I can keep that up haha

Hope you liked it xD Feel free to review ~ I even tolerate flames if you really think they're necessary (though I hope they're not haha)


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